Hold the Door
by plenoptic
Summary: Orion Pax, Ariel, and Dion know they're not living life to the fullest. But when Pax chased that train, he couldn't have known that he what he was really chasing was a romantic, destiny given future...M for serious Pax and Ariel moments! Oneshot.


**Hold the Door, You Never Know If A Potential Leader Will Walk In**

_Plenoptic_

**That's the full title, since I couldn't fit the whole thing in.**

**I don't know how this came to me. But this is sort of how my friends and I typically act. Or, this is how we would act…we're all nutcases that way. Not much to say, really…but I had fun writing this, so I hope you'll enjoy.**

**NOTE: Yay, made up words! "Decitrex" is approximately equal to one earth year. (Plural: decitri.) I made this worth the M rating at the last second...:D Don't hate me. I'm just having fun experimenting here.**

The mag-lev operator sighed heavily. He brushed a touch-response pad at the helm of the conducting bridge, and the engine of the mag train hummed loudly, signaling the end of the boarding process. The operator switched on the viewing cameras and squinted at his passengers through the small monitor. He sighed. Same old mechs and femmes he saw every day, each and every one making the long commute into Iacon for the day's work. The tiny city of Praxon was truly too far off the radar for the operator's liking.

"This is your operator this morning," he drawled into the intercom. Same old, same old. "We'll be leaving in approximately half a breem, so y'all make sure you have your belongings…"

Even as he spoke, he moved his hand over to the release pad on the control panel, and the double doors of the mag-lev hissed and began to slide shut. The operator looked up upon hearing a slight murmuring from the car behind him; something was stirring up his passengers. Rising from his seat, he moved to the hatch and opened it to peer into the passenger car just as a loud, metallic clang resounded from the closing doors.

The operator's optics widened as they fell upon the source of the noise. A young mech, red and blue in color, had thrust himself between the closing doors, wedging them open. Grunting, the mech shifted around so his back held one door at bay whilst his right foot held the other.

"Could ya…hold the mag…for just a sec?" he panted, grinning weakly. "My party will be here…soon…just wait…please…"

"Are you insane?" the operator demanded, his optics bulging slightly. "What were you thinking? Got a glitch in your processor or what?"

"No, no, not at all! My friend and I…I mean, I got this job offering at a docking bay, and I--no, wait, please don't close! Don't--! Close--! Listen, I have to get to Iacon in a half joor, or they'll fill my position! Please! You can't let this mag leave!"

"Then you get your aft in here, and we'll get you to Iacon!" the operator snapped, but the young mech shook his head frantically.

"No, hold on just a sec! My friends are coming, okay? They're just slow little spawn of Unicron, and…No! Don't close!!!"

"Listen, kid, I'm behind schedule as it is, I don't have time to--"

"Don't call me kid! It's Pax! Orion--Pax--_don't clooooooose!_"

"You think I give a slag who you are?"

"You've gotta give a slag!" Pax pleaded desperately, repositioning himself to brace the doors with his hands so he could keep both feet planet firmly on the floor. "My future's waiting for me in Iacon! It'll get away if we don't make this train!"

"What the slag are you talking about?!"

Orion groaned through gritted teeth. The doors whined, begging to be slammed shut, but the young mech's stubborn hands prevented them from doing so. He looked over his shoulder, panting slightly, and sighed loudly.

"There you are!"

"Pax!" a young mech called happily, running down the platform with a rather cute pink femme in tow (being dragged, really). "Good job, buddy boy! C'mon, Ariel, move those legs!"

"I'd love to but--you're making running kind of hard, Dion!"

"Move, move, move, femme! Don't wanna keep your mech waiting, do we?"

"Then let go already!"

Orion moved to one side, his right arm trembling as he struggled to suspend the door. Just as his joints began to creak, signaling an undoubted break, Dion exploded through the entryway, and both he and Ariel tumbled head-over-heels onto the floor. Orion released the door and collapsed down next to his friends; the doors clanged shut, leaving the rest of the car in absolute silence.

"Um…thanks," Pax said sheepishly, lifting his head. "I owe you one."

The operator shook his head, his optics still wide. "You three. Very back car. I don't need no slaggin' delinquents ruffling my passengers. And you'll be fined for this one, kid," he added in a growl, pointing at Pax, who grinned weakly.

* * *

"Oh, man, I'm beat," Dion sighed, throwing himself down onto one of the padded seats.

"_You're _beat?" Orion replied fiercely, glaring at his best friend. "I'm the one who had to do all the hard stuff!"

"Oh, yeah, Pax. Holding a door is _real_ tricky. It takes a real muscle mech to--"

"Just shut up, Dion, okay?" Orion sighed, sitting down and leaning his foreplate against the window, watching the world whiz by at five hundred plus miles an hour. He knew all about the mag-lev trains; how they were propelled by the strongest magnets Cybertronian could produce, hidden away beneath the tracks. Each magnet pulled on a metallic panel along the bottom of the mag-lev, and the opposite charges suspended the craft slightly above the track. Pax had often wondered why, then, the mag-lev didn't just sit there, until Ariel had realized that each subsequent magnet was somewhat thicker than the last, giving it more attraction power.

Smart femme, he'd realized then.

"Are we gonna make it?" Ariel asked, optics scanning the small, dark car for some sign of a chronometer.

"We should," Orion replied, shuttering tired optics. "Though I think we held them up almost a breem. Good going, Dion," he added, opening one optic to glare at his friend.

"You're the one who recharged late today," Dion accused.

"That was Ariel."

"Hey!" she squawked, swatting her mech's head. "Don't make up lies to cover your own aft!"

"Sorry," he said mildly, shuttering his optic once more and trying to commence his recharge cycle. The commute wasn't long enough to complete the whole thing, but any recharge was good recharge, in his book. After an obliging sigh, Ariel sat down beside her mech and leant her head against his shoulder. He lifted an arm to wrap it around her, and she fell more easily into his side. With a small sigh, he turned his head to rest his cheek against her helm. Dion watched dolefully for a moment before getting to his feet and plopping his armored aft down at his friend's free side.

"Will ya hold me too, Paxie?" he inquired, scooting closer, and Orion shoved him off irritably.

"Gay bot."

Dion chuckled and leaned back, lacing his fingers behind his head and yawning widely; they were in for a long, boring trip.

* * *

"Alright. Pay up. Two hundred creds," the operator said shortly, throwing out an arm to stop Pax before he could hop off the mag-lev.

"Did I not mention that I'm getting a job here?" Orion asked nervously, eyeing the firearm strapped to the mech's side. "People get jobs when they're flat broke."

"You paid for the tickets, didn't you?"

"Are you kidding me?" Dion demanded hotly from his and Ariel's position on the landing platform. "Even I had to work to get those creds! Not to mention the rent we're paying on this dumb-aft apartment Orion hooked us up with!"

Pax gave him his signature mute-it-aft-shaft-you're-not-helping look, and Dion sniggered. He loved antagonizing his friend. It was sort of habit by now. All joking aside, though, they really were broke, and this operator seemed dead serious. Dion glanced over at Ariel, who had laced her fingers behind her back, looking unsure of what to do and what to say. An idea sparked in his processor.

"Hey, man, cut my friend Pax some slack," Dion said smoothly, abruptly wrapping an arm around Ariel's shoulders. "His little lady here, she's carrying a sparkling."

Ariel, infuriated though she was by the lie, kept her face composed in a pleading look, nodding dolefully; her blue optics widened slightly, and she tipped her head down to peer up at the operator. He hesitated; luckily, her play-cute tactics diverted his attention from Orion's aghast faceplates. He kept mouthing "I'm going to kill you" in his friend's general direction; Dion bit down his laugh.

"She's…sparking?" the operator said, dumbfounded, and Orion seriously considered hitting the mech; he was too focused on Ariel for Pax's liking. Slag, maybe her cute-innocent-femme act worked a little _too_ well if it had old mechs drooling over her too.

"Yup. In just over three orns," Dion said seriously. "I'm her brother, and that's her mate over there--the lugnut you're holding up. We're trying to find work here in Iacon, you know, because we don't want the little one sparked into…well…we've always had some poverty issues in the family," he said tragically, and Ariel bowed her head, blushing slightly. "We're hoping to give the sparkling a…a better life, you know, than what we've…" He broke off and looked away, inhaling deeply, then turned back to the operator with slightly watery optics. "Please. We'll pay you back as soon as we can, we just…we really need the creds right now, and…" Ariel released a very theatric whimper.

"Hey now, babe, it's okay," Orion piped up. "We'll get through this, alright? We'll make it through. You and me and your bro over there." _Who I am going to murder, by the way_, he thought scathingly.

"Aw, gee, I…" the operator broke off, and after a moment's longer delay, released Orion. "Naw, don't worry about it. I get held up all the time. I mean, just…you save those creds for your femme, and you treat her and the little one good, got it? And if you don't," he added threateningly, and Orion nodded quickly.

"Oh, yeah. Absolutely. No one who loves her as much as me," Orion said seriously, hurrying from the mag-lev to reclaim his Ariel from Dion's grip. Ariel bit her lip to hide her smile as her jealous mech swept her back into his arms. "I'll take good care of her."

"Yeah, yeah," the operator sighed, observing his built-in chronometer. "Slag, I'm off schedule again…nice meetin' you folks, good luck with everything."

"Thank you," Ariel gushed, her optics bright. "Thank you so much."

The operator blushed slightly and tipped his head. "You're very welcome. You boys take care of her, now…"

"Yessir," they chorused, and did not allow their very false smiles to fade until he had reboarded and begun steering the mag to the next stop.

"I'm going to murder you!" Orion roared, instantly bursting into a full run as Dion turned tailpipe and fled. "I can't believe you said that!"

"Aw, Pax, it was all in good fun," Dion laughed, dancing out of his friend's clutches. "Besides, it worked, didn't it?"

"Well, yeah, but--it was embarrassing!"

"You'll hurt Ariel's feelings, mate," Dion said wisely, and Orion immediately screeched to a stop and spun to look at his femme.

"Did I hurt your feelings?" he blurted worriedly, and she rolled her optics.

"No, Orion. You're fine," she sighed, placing her hands on her hips. "Commence."

He licked his lips, his optics roving almost hungrily over her body. He wanted to tell her how hot she made him feel, how bad he wanted her, how much she meant to him, but was all too aware of Dion's devious optics.

"Dion."

"Hm?"

"Look away for a sec."

"Why?"

"Just do it."

Dion huffed and turned away, and Orion swept his femme into his arms in one easy movement, kissing her hard. She stifled her moan (also aware of Dion's presense) and lapped his glossa with hers. Orion broke away far too soon and pressed his cheek to hers.

"Light of my spark," he whispered into her audio receptor, his fingers gently grazing her hips. "Love of my life."

She shivered lightly and hugged him close, pressing her face into his broad shoulder. He embraced her for a moment before Dion cleared his vocalizer loudly, and the lovers broke apart quickly.

"I told you to turn around," Orion said hotly.

"I just wanted to see some action for myself, that's all," Dion said, shrugging. "Apparently, watching the real thing is a lot more enlightening than watching the slag on those videos of yours, Ori--"

"DION!"

"Whoops. Was Ariel not supposed to know about those?"

"I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Ah! Whoa! Cool your jets, man!"

"SLAG YOU TO ALL PIT!"

Ariel rolled her optics and followed her two favorite mechs as they chased each other away from the platform, bickering loudly. They still had to find their apartment, and before that they had to catch a cab and somehow persuade the driver to accept invisible credits…Sighing, she jogged to catch up with her companions, her optics following Orion Pax almost exclusively.

* * *

"I get the room waaaaay over there," Dion proclaimed after giving their apartment a thorough check. "It has the thickest walls."

"Why does that matter?" Orion inquired, cocking an optic ridge.

"Pax, as much as I love you guys, I really don't want to hear whatever love you have for each--"

"Okay, stop," Orion groaned, taking Ariel's hand. "You get that room. We'll be over here. Go get some recharge, okay? I've gotta go find the docking bay."

"Nighty night," Dion yawned loudly, adjusting his cargo bag on his shoulder and shutting his door.

No sooner had Ariel dropped her own bag and closed the door than she abruptly found herself pinned upon the recharge berth, her mate's strong body pressing upon hers. She moaned weakly into his mouth as he trapped her in his kiss, already attacking her glossa with his. His hands stroked the length of her body, and she shuddered violently.

"Be right back," he murmured, lowering his head to bite gently into her neck wiring. "I've got to go claim my post, alright?"

"You're awful," she moaned, sighing as his glossa lapped briefly against her breastplate. "Leading me on, then taking off?"

"It'll only be a few breems. Try to rest while I'm gone. But," he growled, slipping a hand down to touch her interface panel, "don't expect any recharge when I come back, femme."

She giggled and kissed him lightly before he straightened and made for the door.

"See you in a bit," he said, glancing over his shoulder, and she smiled.

"I'll be waiting."

* * *

It was a very triumphant Orion Pax who returned to his apartment almost a joor later. He was slightly nervous about confronting his lover now; he'd gotten lost on the way back, but a bar had been rather conveniently placed exactly where he'd given up. It was a pity that he couldn't engage in his normal activities there, but he knew better than to drink if he expected any action from her. She wouldn't get anywhere near him when he smelled of high-grade. It was a lesson he'd had to learn the hard way, and it had been made all the more painful by the fact that his interface systems had been rather revved that day.

Their room was dark when he entered, but she immediately awoke at his touch.

"Hey, babe," he purred sweetly, crawling beneath the thermal blankets and drawing her against him. "You're looking lovely this evening."

"I was dreaming, you aft," she sighed, looking up at him.

"Oh yeah? What of?" he inquired, stroking her hip.

"You."

Orion rolled over on top of her, hungrily trapping her lips, his glossa invading her mouth with reckless abandon. She returned his kiss eagerly, tracing the inside of his foot with her toe. He hitched her left leg around his waist, pressing his hips against hers, and she moaned weakly as his fingers stroked her interface panel, sending pronounced shudders through her body. He grinned inwardly as her hand clutched at his aft; so she was starting to lose herself, too. Good.

"No recharge for you tonight, femme," he reminded her softly, speaking against her lips, which she was trying in vain to close. His glossa kept getting in the way. "You're all mine, my love."

"Fine by me," she growled, her hand easing away his outermost chest plating to reveal the sensitive nodes and plates beneath. A wild spasm rolled through him, and his hips bucked slightly as her fingers found the sweet spot in his chest. "As long as I get a share in the profits."

"Absolutely," he murmured, biting into her neck wiring. "Fifty percent."

"Wonderful," she purred, pulling away his interface panel. "Here I come."

He growled predatorially as he eased away her panel as well, his optics carefully scrutinizing her curvaceous body. "Half the time, I think you're too good for me," he said softly, tracing her port with gentle fingers. "But then you go and act as naughty as you say you aren't, and I completely rethink," he added, grinning. She whimpered softly as his thumb ran the circumference of the port; slaggit, she'd had him on the run only moments ago. He appeared thoughtful for a moment, and then abruptly snuggled down far beneath the covers. She waited, taking note of where he was putting his hands, when a wave of pleasure abruptly ceased her. She cried out, her back arching violently, and she distantly felt Orion's powerful hands hold her down. The wave passed, leaving her shivering and trembling upon the berth. She felt him bite into her side, his glossa teasing the sensitive wiring beneath her plated armor, and she moaned weakly.

"What did you do?" she demanded in a low groan, and she heard his rumbling laugh.

"You couldn't tell?"

"I thought I was going to overload."

"Shall I do it again?"

She considered. Whatever he had done, she'd rather liked it. However, he wasn't leaving her much of a choice. She felt his hands press against her legs, and moaned as his fingers eased into the very sensitive circuitry in the joints where her legs joined her waist. She felt his warm mouth grazing her abdomen, biting down wherever he saw fit--he was rather good at judging where. She also, very distinctly, felt his glossa dip into her port.

A wild shudder tore through her, and she wailed, her body arching long and hard, and this time, Orion was forced to wrap his arms around her waist to hold her down. He pulled himself back up on top of her, smugly coaxing her legs around his waist. Spasms still rolled through her, and she cried out as he bit once more into her neck wiring, close to the base of her throat.

Overload came as his interface appliance found her port, and for a moment, everything went blank. She knew only the wild, hot pleasure, the bliss, the feel of having her mate pressed so erotically against her body. He was pouring so much into her--tiny tidbits of information in between the passionate, lustful urges. Her body stiffened in his arms, and she emitted a long, low moan. She recovered slowly to find his lips already wound around hers, more tender now that he had had his fun.

"Your turn," he said smugly.

* * *

**Many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many vorns later…**

The mag-lev operator sighed heavily. He brushed a touch-response pad at the helm of the conducting bridge, and the engine of the mag train hummed loudly, signaling the end of the boarding process. The operator switched on the viewing cameras and squinted at his passengers through the small monitor. He sighed. Same old mechs and femmes he saw every day, each and every one making the long commute into Iacon for the day's work. The tiny city of Praxon was truly too far off the radar for the operator's liking.

"This is your operator this morning," he drawled into the intercom. Same old, same old. "We'll be leaving in approximately half a breem, so y'all make sure you have your belongings…"

Even as he spoke, he moved his hand over to the release pad on the control panel, and the double doors of the mag-lev hissed and began to slide shut. The operator looked up upon hearing a slight murmuring from the car behind him; something was stirring up his passengers. Rising from his seat, he moved to the hatch and opened it to peer into the passenger car just as a loud, metallic clang resounded from the closing doors.

The operator sighed heavily; a rather large blue and red mech was lodged between the whining doors, struggling to hold them open.

"If you could hold on…just for a moment…" the mech panted, his optics crinkling at the edges as his lips pulling into a smile behind his mask. "My party is on their way…"

"I can't hold up this train forever," the operator growled. Then his gaze softened. "How ya been, Orion?"

"Um…it's Optimus, actually, we--Ah! No! Don't close!"

"Whatever. You've been Orion to me for the past I don't even know how many vorns. So. How's that sparkling doing?"

"Oh, Hot Rod? He's technically a youngling now, but--_Don't close_!"

"They've got about ten seconds, Prime."

"I know, I know," Optimus groaned, looking over his shoulder. His optics brightened. "Oh, there they are."

Sprinting down the platform was the gargantuan form of Ultra Magnus, who was being closely followed by a very attractive (by which means that all of the mechs on the mag-lev drooled at the first sight of her) femme. The operator craned his neck a bit and grinned; indeed, the femme was carrying a small red bot upon her back.

"Hold--the--door!" Ultra Magnus puffed.

"What do you think I'm doing?" Optimus demanded, and was about to say more when Magnus failed to skid to a stop, instead colliding with his commander and sending them both flying into the wall (several passengers jumped away at risk of being squashed). Elita slid in much more gracefully, clearing the train just as the doors closed and not once jostling the youngling on her back.

"Well, that was fun," she quipped, glaring darkly at the mechs now crumpled on the floor. "Get up, you two. You're making us look bad. Pretty pathetic excuses for Autobots."

"Hey," Magnus said groggily, staggering to his feet and helping Optimus. "We are the patron saints of Autobot…hood."

"Mm-hmm," Elita snorted, crouching down and allowing her son to slide off of her back. She stood, and the youngling peeked cautiously around from behind her leg. "Hot Rod, this is Citadel," she said, indicating the operator. "He's an old friend of mine and Papa's."

"Hi," the youngling said cautiously.

Citadel smiled and saluted. "Greetings, soldier. I remember when I first had your father in here--I don't think he was much taller than you. Maybe a little fatter."

"Hey," Optimus said, offended, and Citadel laughed. Magnus smirked, but didn't vocalize anything; Optimus Prime's punches had come a long way from Orion Pax's feeble, femme-like smacks.

"How old is he?" Citadel asked, looking at Elita, and she swelled with pride.

"Nearly five decitri. Optimus won't let me call him a sparkling anymore," she added somewhat scathingly, glaring at her bonded, and he shrugged helplessly.

"We can't pamper him forever, Lita," he said soothingly, kneeling down on one knee, and his son happily clambered into his arms. "He has to grow up sometime."

"But look at him, Optimus! There's no way we can logically call him a youngling!"

Citadel smiled contentedly and looked down at his wrist chronometer. "Oh, slag," he muttered, then quickly uttered an apology at Elita and Optimus's cold looks. "I mean, shucks. We're going to be late."

"Well, don't let us hold you up," Magnus said flippantly. "Proceed. We'll take the car in the back?"

"Yup. Car of honor. Free of charge."

"You know, I'm not really all that broke anymore," Optimus snorted, adjusting the sleepy little bot in his arms.

Citadel grinned. "Yeah, but you finally came through on that sparkling promise. That'll serve as payment for now."

Optimus smiled, his optics warming. "Thank you."

"Hey, note the 'for now', punk--next time, you're paying in full," Citadel growled, and Optimus laughed.

The quartet moved through the aisles to take the back car, and Citadel returned to the control helm. He flicked on one of his monitors, opening up the screen to the darkened back car just in time to hear Magnus yawn and groan quietly, "Oh, man, I'm beat…"

/// page break


End file.
